Grassroots Leadership is pleased to welcome Dulce Guerrero and Arlin Tellez as Immigration interns this summer.

Dulce Guerrero was born in Nayarit, Mexico and came to the United States alongside her family at the age of three. Her family settled in Georgia where she lived 20 years prior to moving to Delaware to pursue higher education. Dulce currently attends Delaware State University where she is majoring in Political Science. Read more about Welcoming Arlin Tellez and Dulce Guerrero as Immigration interns

I’m happy to share the news that Jennifer Pumphrey has joined the Grassroots Leadership team as a field organizer in Austin.

Jennifer is starting from a place of deep knowledge about the local community, because she was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Specifically, she grew up on the East Side, and saw first-hand the racial disparities, oppression, and gang violence in the community. This sparked an interest in Jennifer at a very young age in understanding and the need to fix our broken judicial system.

It’s no secret that the United States has a mass incarceration problem. But, did you know Texas ranks as one of the top five states contributing to this problem? It is time for Texas and Travis County — a progressive community — to lead by example. Travis County continues to jail folks at an alarming rate for low-level drug possession, in fact these charges have increased by 90 percent in the last five years, while crime has decreased. Has it occurred to anyone that we are doing a disservice in our community by not taking a closer look at the root causes of criminal justice involvement? Read more about Travis County wants to build a new jail, but we need care, not cages.